WhatsApp is changing how contacts work

Today, WhatsApp has announced an important overhaul of how it handles contacts. Up until this point, contacts in WhatsApp are the contacts on the phone it’s installed on. That can be a problem for those who lose their phone and don’t have backups of their contacts, for example. This can also be a headache for those who share a phone, as well as those who manage multiple accounts with separate contacts on one device.

Thankfully, though, WhatsApp has a solution: a built-in contact manager. This will let you save contacts in the app, and so you won’t lose them if you switch phones.

The first step of implementing this new feature is having the ability to save contacts on WhatsApp Web and Windows. WhatsApp owner Meta says eventually you will be able to save contacts on other linked devices.

The contacts you save in WhatsApp use a new privacy-preserving storage technology called Identity Proof Linked Storage (IPLS), which Meta says keeps names and numbers encrypted and only lets you access them.

The new contacts feature will, at some point in the future, be followed by a username system which will let you use the app without tying your account to your phone number.

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